To promote the name of Jesus Christ and His Word by testifying to His work in my life and the lives of my family and friends.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Wake up! Repent!

Yesterday I read Gen 18-19, which includes the narrative of Abraham interceding for the wicked city of Sodom (where his nephew Lot lived). God graciously agrees not to destroy the city if only ten righteous people are found there. There were less.

God, then rescues Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, even after his hesitance to leave despite impending judgment. It can be assumed he had grown comfortable there financially as he sat in the city gate-where all the municipal/legal matters were dealt with (19:1). In fact, the angels had to physically drag Lot and his family out of the city. I was struck by the "forceful" grace that God showed in sparing Lot and his family!

"But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. (Gen 19:16)"

What a picture of grace! Lot's family did not deserve to be saved, but God forcefully rescued them in mercy. How similar to my own salvation story!

This passage also contains the account of Lot's wife looking back and being consumed by the destruction. This side of God is striking in contrast to the watered-down image of God we hear about today. Yes, God is a God of love, but he is also perfectly just and righteous and will ultimately put an end to all sin in His righteous judgment. I heard someone say yesterday that grace is NOT deserved. Grace is a gift and cannot be earned or else it wouldn't be grace!

Don't be lulled to sleep by the world system we live in. Do not love the world or the things in the world (see 1 Jn 2:17), it's passing away!

Note Jesus words in Luke 17:28-33, when he makes reference to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

If you are not a believer do not wait till tomorrow to be reconciled to God. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon said this of procrastination: "The great mischief of most men is that they procrastinate. It is not that they resolve to be damned, but that they resolve to be saved TOMORROW. It is not that they reject Christ forever, but that they reject Christ TODAY. They might as well reject him forever, as continue perpetually to reject him NOW."

God has provided salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. He took on human flesh to live the life we could not live and took the punishment of God's wrath that we deserve. He was crucified, buried, and rose again for our sins and we need only to cry out to Him in repentance and beg His mercy, trusting in Him alone for our eternal salvation! (Click here for a quick summary of the Gospel with Scripture you can look up.)

Will you consider that your reading of this blog is not an accident, but in fact an indication that God is mercifully grabbing you by the arm and seeking to save you from the judgment to come?

If you are a believer, pray that God would give you opportunities to share the Good News with the lost in your life!